


Descent into Madness

by LadyAzure17



Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X
Genre: -mission impossible theme plays-, Action, Adventure, Gen, Torture, X doing his hunter thing, but uh oh this mav is a nasty one, lil bit of horror, lots of fighting, lots of stealthiness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-16 04:02:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16077992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyAzure17/pseuds/LadyAzure17
Summary: A Maverick has been discovered to be manufacturing potent strains of the virus in order to make biological weapons. Of course the Hunters are going to stop her, but they may have to sacrifice more than they bargained for to do so. Things always have to get a lot worse before they get better.





	Descent into Madness

               “Alia, it seems like our signal is being jammed beyond this point. I’m going to have to investigate without you.” X peered again down the yawning ravine. There were glints of rusting metal along the walls of rock, and his quarry had fled below. There was a sudden ache in his hand as he realized he had been gripping the tree he was hanging onto a bit too tightly. He pulled himself back up and took a slow breath.

               “Be careful X,” Alia’s voice responded, not doing a damn thing to hide the concern in her voice. “Blue jay descending into a terminal zone. Standby for reestablished contact.”

               X turned to his squadron. They were tense with anticipation for his next order, and his lieutenant, Robin, looked ready to retort the inevitable.

               “Stay here, I’m going down myself.”

               Retort she did: “Commander, I can’t advise you to do that.” Her eyes narrowed, and she stood a little straighter. “I know the tacticians and navs won’t stop you, but at least let us go too. They’re A-Class mavericks, and we now know they have viral bombs on their hands. You’ll need backup in case of an ambush.”

               X regarded her tensely. She wasn’t wrong by any stretch of the imagination, and there was sound reasoning behind her concerns, but something churned hard through the ichor pumps in his diaphragm. Something haunted him about this place already, a sense of dread looming in the back of his mind that he could not appease or ignore. The earth had seemed to pulse unnaturally as they approached the gorge, like some infernal machine breathed beneath. He somehow knew his comrades would suffer a horrible fate if they trailed him or split up inside the complex beneath them.

               “No, Lieutenant.” And he was resolute in his decision as the five reploids before him gasped and argued with him indignantly. “I’m not taking you into some hideout where I know you _will_ get killed,” he raised over their voices sternly, and they fell silent.

               Robin looked ghostly. “Commander…”

               “Lieutenant, I can’t lose you: that’s why I’m going in alone. _Stay here_.” There was a hint of exhaustion in his voice from forcing back his anxiety, and their refusal to acknowledge why he was asking this of them. He turned once more to the split in the earth yawning beneath them, a chill wind drifting across its mouth. For a moment a nauseous pang crept through his frame before he leaped down to the dry earth below.

               In that second, he heard Robin’s voice, low and firm into her comm, but he couldn’t make out what she said. Later he’d replay it in his mind only to find her ordering, “Blue jay has descended solo. Send in the 0th for backup.”

               Catching himself on the wall toward the bottom, his boots released a cloud of dust into the air, and the ground did much the same. Instantly he felt the tell-tale hiss of the Virus curl its claws into the back of his mind. It was rampant down here, the levels already higher than normal above ground, and as he slunk quietly toward the entrance, it increased tenfold.

               Two guards. Field-Mercenary Types with cloaks of dark gray camo slung over their shoulders. Armed with pulse rifles that could easily split his head in half with a smart shot. He could take out one with a charge shot, but not both, and he couldn’t have any alarms sounding off. He panned through his special weapons quickly, and then scanned the area again. There was a small outcropping about a meter above the door and he had found good old Chameleon Sting thrown onto his roster. He must have placed it on for its invulnerability charge. He could perch up on the ledge and, with a well-aimed shot, knock them both out at once. X nodded to himself, ready to go. He boosted out from his hiding spot and sprinted up along the wall to the ledge. The one guard jumped to the ready, looking around in panic, and X pressed himself down into the platform as much as he could. He watched silently as the reploid mentioned it to his partner, who replied with a flat, “It was probably one of the birds in the area again. You’re too jumpy, Nima.”

               Nima growled back in frustration, stepping closer to the wall. “It was a little heavier and closer than a bird this time.”

               X pressed further back into the corner of the ledge and the rock face. Nima was beginning to look up.

               “I could have sworn…”

               X quickly switched to Ground Dash, praying the color shift in his armor was close enough to the rock that he wouldn’t be spotted. He narrowed his eyes, willing with all his might that the guard would turn and be quiet once more.

               “Nim, just drop it.”

               Another moment of silence filled with the trill of the Virus in X’s ears. If they tilted their eyes and gun up just a bit more… Just a few degrees… X would come into view from under their helmet… _Don’t look up…!_

               “ _Nima.”_

“Okay, okay, fine.” They relaxed, dropping their gun and turning back around. “But if we get attacked, so help me I will kick your ass afterward!”

               X quietly sighed in relief, giving the back of Nima’s gray helmet a pitying look. After a quick check of his Viral readings, he could tell they were both infected, but only mildly. They could still be saved. The shot X planned to aim would only pierce, after the helmet, about two millimeters into the back of their brains. Enough to knock them out and disrupt sight, but not enough to kill. They definitely didn’t need to die. X raised his buster, the green of Chameleon Sting curling back over his armor. He was going to rescue these two if he could. If nothing else, they could be interrogated about the operation.

               He ran through the angles and calculations at breakneck speed, his mind buzzing once he realized he was in firing position. He narrowed his eyes.

               In a flash, the two yelped and fell limp to the ground. X exhaled, quickly leaping down to pull their bodies out of sight, stealing the cloak off Nima’s shoulder before turning toward the entrance. Peering around the border of ancient steel, the mouth of the base breathed a chill wind. Wherever this led, there was a deep cavern somewhere within. The Virus whined louder in his ears. Ignoring the nauseating ache starting in his frame, he tugged the cloak tightly around him and swept in.

               It was eerily silent, a perfect stage for the whining and blips of static to bug him. Already X hated it, having to flip to night vision as his normal optics adjusted to the thick darkness of the entrance. He had a buster ready beneath his cloak, his other hand feeling along the craggy wall of the tunnel. He trudged along for an agonizing amount of time, tensing each moment as more and more nothing came of his trek. The only noticeable difference was the occasional smooth patch in the wall. Otherwise it was darkness. No reploids, not a light or soul to be seen.

               The rock suddenly warmed under his touch, the sudden sensation making him prickle. Quickly he looked at it with a heat vision lens, noticing a network of pipes and cables snaking just beneath his hand and feet. They had turned in from nowhere, and as X warily continued, he began to realize with horror that eerie sensation he had felt before. The earth around him wasn’t just pulsing with the regular movement of liquids or energy. The tunnel’s breeze picked up every now and then, like a sigh, the pipes around him pumping in an irregular enough beat to feel like a heart. It was like the base was a living being, and it made X shudder. Viral readings were much higher now. It must have been that infection edging a little further in to his mind.

               Suddenly, voices, and X quickly dove into a crevice in the wall, gripping his cloak tight to him. He forced himself not to charge a shot, though the piercing anxiety nearly threw him to action. _Stay stealthy_. The pair drew closer, their feet clunking against the earth, speaking about fuel levels and viral concentration.

               “…Aside from all this, the main core is stable. Output will only continue to increase exponentially.”

               “Nightwalkers will be pleased to hear that. I’ll be happy just to take a break and see the sun again. My head’s been killing me these past few days, and the damp just makes me ache.”

               “Mild overexposure. Once your weekly break comes, I’ll make sure Henbane gives you the vaccine.”

               X’s eyes widened as they slipped right past, the wind from their stride tugging his cloak along with him. The one scientist paused. X narrowed his gaze, silently engaging his weapon.

               “How can I trust her to help me, Genos? Especially after last time…” The scientist was cold, angered.

               There was a chuckle. “Come on, you know she doesn’t kill _every_ patient she sees. Only the ones who…,” they paused, breathing an amused sigh, “deserved it. She’s got a lot to watch over. She can’t waste time with people who may betray her.”

               There was silence. X was waiting for one to turn just thirty degrees to the right…

               “Fine. Let’s go.”

               And they began to walk again. For a moment, X breathed, before another clench of his innards. It hadn’t sounded like they were heading for the entrance, but if they were, then the missing guards would become very apparent, and they could sound an alarm. He decided he would watch the two from his hiding spot for a moment. If they really were leaving, he’d have to stop them.

               Their heat signatures were relatively low for reploids, but he chalked it up to being underground in the damp cold. There were other irregularities in their body temperatures, some points glowing fever-hot. It was probably the virus. Genos eventually turned toward a wall, resting their hand against it. A door slid open, washing the dark hall with a sickly pink glow. X stared in shock. Some of the divots he had touched earlier… were they doors too? He slunk out from his hiding spot, creeping toward their figures as they walked into the room. He only caught a glimpse before the door shut. Some kind of main tank. Smaller ones being filled with vile-looking fluid. A handful of other scientists crammed in there along with the two. A viral spike that made his ears scream.

               Darkness. X’s vision took a moment to clear of the interference as he choked down a groan, trembling. They were making viral bombs, for sure. Whatever strain of the Virus in there was potent. No wonder the place was eating at him so much.

               He quickly saved what he had just experienced to two separate parts of his brain, hoping one of them would survive this uncorrupted. He stood, a little weak, before continuing his trek into the thick darkness before him. There was a main core he had to disable or destroy.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Oh boy, long fic time! I always want to work hard at suspense and action writing, so this fic is gonna have a lot of it. And it's gonna have a lot of peril and fun stuff! Yaaay!
> 
> (as always, thanks to Superellysan for being my editor and helping me clean up the rough stuff)


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